A New India

Captain Alfaz Shaheed of Pakistan Army had always prided himself on his ability to stay invisible in the crowd.

In a military system where bravado often overshadowed substance, he preferred to operate in the quiet shadows, gathering information, watching from the periphery.

His colleagues admired his precision and discipline but considered him just another cog in the machine, a reliable, no-nonsense officer who did his duty and went home.

But even in his routine, Alfaz had sensed for months that something was amiss.

There were whispers in the barracks and among the junior officers, small signs that pointed toward some covert operation unfolding far from the eyes of even high-ranking officials.

It was like catching the scent of smoke in the air before seeing the fire. Alfaz wasn't one to ignore such signs.

The clue that confirmed his suspicions arrived late one night.

---

Alfaz was seated in his modest apartment in Rawalpindi, sipping on tea, when an envelope was discreetly slid under his door.

He froze, setting the cup down, his instincts immediately sharpening.

No one sent him confidential material like this. Slowly, cautiously, he approached the door, glancing out into the hallway.

It was empty. Whoever had delivered it had vanished as quickly as they had come.

The envelope was unmarked except for a single word in red ink: Classified.

Alfaz opened it with care, his fingers steady but his heart already racing.

Inside was a slim file marked Chagai Hills - Confidential Military Operations.

His brow furrowed. Chagai Hills, deep in the heart of Balochistan, was an isolated, arid region known for little beyond its rugged, barren beauty.

Military exercises were common in remote areas, but something about this file seemed different.

He began to read. The details were vague, deliberately so.

It described a series of secret military convoys heading into Chagai Hills at odd hours, carrying what was described as "sensitive equipment."

There were also whispers of foreign experts being flown into the region, unmarked cargoes, and suspicious movements of high-ranking officials.

The file ended abruptly, with no clear conclusions, but the implications were clear: something unusual, perhaps even dangerous, was taking place in the remote hills of Balochistan.

But what? And more importantly, who was involved?

Alfaz knew this was bigger than a simple military operation.

The secrecy, the remote location, it all suggested something far more sinister. He couldn't let it go.

The next morning, Alfaz started digging, quietly and methodically. He knew that this wouldn't be a simple investigation.

In a place like Pakistan's military, information was power, and the wrong questions could get you killed.

---

The first steps were delicate. Alfaz began by reaching out to his usual sources, officers and informants scattered across the border regions.

For weeks, all he heard were vague whispers, stories of convoys heading into Chagai Hills, soldiers speaking of being sent there for reasons no one would explain.

He bribed checkpoint guards to monitor the traffic coming in and out of the region.

It was difficult, frustrating work.

He found nothing concrete, nothing that could tell him exactly what was going on.

But the trail slowly began to heat up.

One night, while in a small tea shop in Quetta, Alfaz met with a young lieutenant who worked in the region.

The man looked nervous, his eyes darting around the room. Alfaz ordered him tea and spoke quietly.

"You've seen something in Chagai, haven't you?"

The lieutenant hesitated. "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do." Alfaz's voice was firm but calm. "And it's bigger than both of us."

The lieutenant, after a few moments of tense silence, leaned in and whispered, "They've been sending heavy convoys into the hills. Equipment I've never seen before. And there are foreign engineers, people I've never met, speaking in languages I don't recognize."

Alfaz's heart skipped a beat. Foreign engineers? That changed everything.

Pakistan couldn't possibly be working alone on something this large.

But the lieutenant refused to say more, nervously glancing around. "That's all I know, sir. Please… don't involve me in this."

The lead was thin, but it was the first real confirmation that foreign powers might be involved.

Alfaz knew he needed more, more details, more proof. And to get that, he would have to get his hands dirty.

---

The next step was far darker than Alfaz had anticipated.

Bribery wasn't enough, he needed someone closer to the heart of the operation.

Through back channels, he identified a logistics officer who had been working near Chagai for several months, a man who had likely overseen the movement of equipment into the region.

But this officer wasn't going to talk willingly.

Alfaz set up a plan.

The officer, Arif, was picked up late one night, snatched from his house in the outskirts of Quetta and brought to an abandoned building that Alfaz had prepared.

There was no subtlety here, no finesse. Arif was dragged, kicking and screaming, into a cold, concrete room lit by a single flickering bulb.

His wrists were bound to a chair, sweat already pouring down his face.

Alfaz stood in the shadows, watching as his two men prepared the tools.

Torture wasn't something Alfaz enjoyed or took lightly, but he knew that in this world, sometimes, it was necessary.

"You know what's happening in Chagai," Alfaz said, stepping into the light, his voice low but steady. "And you're going to tell me."

Arif shook his head frantically, his voice trembling. "I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just a logistics officer. I move supplies, I don't ask questions!"

Alfaz took a deep breath, remaining calm. "I don't believe you. And we both know how this works. You can either cooperate now, or things are going to get very uncomfortable for you."

Still, Arif stayed silent, his fear overriding any sense of loyalty.

Alfaz gestured to one of his men, who stepped forward with a hammer.

The first strike wasn't on the man's body. It was on the table in front of him, a warning.

The echo of the metal hitting the wood reverberated through the room, and Arif flinched, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Last chance," Alfaz said. "Talk."

Arif's lips trembled, but he remained quiet. And so, the torture began.

At first, it was subtle, psychological pressure, the fear of what was to come.

Alfaz had found that often, the mind could break before the body.

But when that didn't work, they escalated. Blows to the ribs, electric shocks, pain designed to elicit just enough suffering without causing permanent damage.

Hours passed, and Arif's screams echoed through the cold room.

Finally, as dawn began to break, Arif's resistance shattered.

"They're… testing something," he gasped through his sobs, his voice barely audible.

"It's a test, I swear… something big. I don't know what it is, but the equipment, they've been moving materials. And there's foreign involvement. That's all I know."

Alfaz's heart pounded. He stepped closer, grabbing Arif by the collar. "What kind of test? Weapons?"

Arif shook his head weakly. "I don't know. I overheard some senior officers talking about a test that would 'change everything.' It sounded… nuclear."

That word hit Alfaz like a sledgehammer. Nuclear? Pakistan's ambitions had long been whispered about, but this was something else.

A nuclear test? It seemed impossible, yet here it was, the truth slowly revealing itself.

But Arif couldn't or wouldn't tell him who was behind the operation, who was providing the technology and expertise.

That remained the biggest question

Who was helping Pakistan pull off this test?

---

But Alfaz knew Arif's information wasn't enough.

He needed more. The logistics officer had only been a small part in the machine, aware of bits and pieces but not the whole plan.

Alfaz would need to find someone deeper in the operation.

That's when he turned his attention to Sajid, an engineer who had been sent to Balochistan under mysterious circumstances.

Sajid had the technical background and knowledge Alfaz needed.

This time, Alfaz couldn't rely on torture. Sajid was too valuable for that, and he was more careful than Arif.

Instead, Alfaz lured him with money. He arranged a meeting at an isolated location in Turbat

Promising Sajid a large sum in exchange for details about the Chagai project.

Sajid was hesitant at first, but like many men, his greed got the better of him.

Over the course of a tense, late-night conversation, Sajid revealed the final pieces of the puzzle.

"It's nuclear," Sajid whispered, his voice barely audible in the dark.

"They're preparing for a test. I've seen the equipment… the calculations… They're hiding it from everyone, but it's happening. And they're not working alone. There's money and expertise coming in from the outside. I don't know who, but I've seen foreigners, scientists."

Alfaz leaned back, his heart racing.

This was it.

The proof he needed.

Pakistan was on the verge of conducting a nuclear test, and there were foreign powers backing them.

But Sajid had given him just enough information to fill in the gaps.